All Forum Posts by: Michael Pilarski

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. My mortgae rate at he time I bought was 5.75%. 3 months prior to losing my job I was trying to refi for 3.25% and the mrotgage dept at US Bank kept dragging their feet and kept wanting update documents because they were taking so long. The mortgage broker called the day after I lost my job and asked if I could resend my pay history (thank God it wasn't all 9 1/2 years worth) and non-chalantly asked if I was still working. I said no I lost my job yesterday. I asked if he thought that would be an issue since I still had all my pay history and the fact I had been late or missed any payments on any of my accounts he said it would be. I told him to shove it in no uncertain terms since I was originally told it would only take3-4 weeks for the refi. Oh, well I keep paying my mortgage and any extra I can through at it and keep building equity in it. Home prices haven't fallen too bad in my neighborhood and are still going for 125,000 to 135,000. Again sorry for the long post.

@Larry K. and @Karen M. Thanks for boost guys, I really appreciate it. Right now she has no desire to learn anything about real estate, but I keep trying in different ways to teach her. I think eventually she'll come around because she is supportive of my interests and goals. The "What makes your job so much more secure". statement is so true. Here's my story:
My wife and I bought our house prior to getting married. We based what we could afford solely on one income and that being mine. This was in late 2008 when the market appeared to be hitting bottom in our market. I qualified for well over $200,000 but that was NOT what we were comfortable with. I bought the house as a short sale (we weren't in a hurry and could wait the possible 6 months it could take for the bank to accept our offer). The house appraised for 128,000 we put in an offer for 118,500 and it was accepted. We were doing well. Paying off our debts and building up savings then in March of '09 my wife lost her job due to cutbacks at her office (Office Manager/Admin Assistant for a local law firm). We were still ok and paying down debt, being very frugal (cut back on cable, cell phone to talk and text only, no going out to eat), and putting minimal amounts into savings still. Unfortunately my wife was burned out in the law field. She worked in the industry for 15 years and dealt with a lot of rotten stuff. She wanted a change and something she enjoyed, but still could not find a full time position for almost a year. Then Nov. 9th of 2010 there was full staff meeting at the company I worked for and they announced they were making cuts and laying people off starting that day. Just like that, after 9 1/2 years working for the company, I was let go (I was a level II help desk support). Going home that day sucked. Luckily I got a good severance package and between unemployment and side jobs we were able to survive. May of 2011 I lucked into the contractor position I'm in now that is paying almost double my previous job and she (God Bless her) worked a part time at Lowe's nights and weekends and worked a full time job at State Farm as a contractor for 6 months. We're now back on track. My contract is ongoing and will be for some time and she is now only working at Lowe's and has since starting as part time seasonal is now a head cashier with a few pay increases. I think the experience with what we went through is also part of her hesitation in learning and moving forward. Its a security thing I think. Karen M. I think has helped me with a direction I can go to ease my wifes mind some by forming an LLC for myself. Sorry for the long post, but this might give some insight into how to deal with the situation. Thanks again everyone! BP rocks!

Shane Congrats!!! That's awesome. Good luck and let us know when we can check out the site. How does the Google Voice thing work and is it a pay feature? What made you decide to go that route vs. another option?

Wow, gone for a couple days and come back to find a ton of useful info! Thanks everyone!

@Kama Ward. Thank you for your comments. Just a little back ground:
" It's taken a long time to get my credit straight and debts paid down. " This indicates that you may have not have been so responsible with money in the past. She may feel insecure about it still.
The debt incurred was all related to school and the bad decisions I made years ago until I discovered Dave Ramsey. I have since corrected those issues. She and I are all about getting rid of debt and she realizes that I am responsible with our money. I had to bring her around to the get out of debt way of life. That being said:

"Completely out of debt... Probably a good 5 years off." This indicates you either have a ton of debt or a small income (i'm guessing small income) more insecurity
She and I recently got married (it'll be 3 years this September 4th. 1st marriage for both of us and no kids) When we got married the only debt I had left was a student loan. The debt we're trying to pay off is almost all of hers. (car, unsecured line of credit that was maxed, 2 credit cards 1 maxed the other at 1/2 max, her student loan, various small unpaid bills).

"we're getting there but by that time it'll more than likely be too late to build the wealth I would like for us" This indicates either ignorance or impatience/immaturity on your part (don't mean it harshly). Any time is a good time for real estate!!- the real estate investor must just adjust their strategy to market reality. She must feel this too.
I didn't take this harshly at all and the more I read on here and talk with others the more I realize money can be made in any market.

@Karen M. I've thought about this and this is more than likely the route I will take. I have the name of a great real estate lawyer (that my wife actually knows) and will probably set up an LLC to try and protect all family assets from liabilty. By doing this I may be able to get SBA loans or some other way of funding so I can invest. After funding our emergency fund and paying our bills we do maintain separate savings for our own purchases, but we genrally discuss any large ones prior to making them. I just don't have enough there to fund a deal. I may use this though to establish the LLC and business checking account.

Again, thanks to everyone. I really think in her case, its a matter of the unknown and after realizing the get out of debt and stay out of debt mentality, she has swung to the ultra conservative side, is nervous when it comes to REI, and wants to make sure we're never in debt again. I'm going to work my butt off to try and find a way that REI can help us pay off the remaining debt we have.

Brian, its amazing how much we think alike. The reality is I would never use a HELOC based on the reasons you have given. The only reason I'm thinking about the rollover from the 401k is that I am no longer employed by the company that I have it out with and a lawyer in our REI club was discussing those that he has worked with and how well they are doing (20%-25% Return on investment). If this were to be an option there would be ALOT of discussion with the lawyer, cpa, and wife before doing it. As I posted earlier, I wish you were closer. I'd like to meet you and chat.

@Jason Kosowan I don't know why I never thought to ask her what to invest in. Great strategy there (side note, you are the doppleganger of I friend of mine in FL whose namehappens to be Jason as well). I've thought about looking for something very very cheap so I could try my hand using the little I do have set aside, but realized the margins in our market are tight in the low price range.

@Brian Hoyt I do have more to learn to wholesale properly and that was the other reason I've taken my time. That and the wholesale market here is tough and true deals are hard to come by. I am at least attending the REI meetings here and have met a few people. I just need to get in touch and get out there and network even if I haven't done a deal yet so people can get to know me and know I'm serious and knowledgeable about what I'm doing. Another tough thing is the REI in my area seem to have an attitude about wholesalers that isn't all that pleasant since there are a lot of pretenders around here and I don't want to be one of them. Brian I wish you lived closer. I've read alot of your posts here and you have some great insight. It'd be awesome to sit down and have beer or too and chat. I'd love to have someone like you mentor me.

Thanks again guys!

Brian, thanks for the input. I usually am very conservative when it comes to these things. The only reason I would use my HELOC would be as the initial purchase of my first deal and then from the profits the money would go right back into paying off the HELOC. The reason for using the 401k into a SDIRA using real estate is the large profit margin. Sitting its only making about 8% but if by going into real estate it could make 15% or more I would move it (only after discussing with a lawyer, cpa, and wife and going through the numbers numerous times to make sure the deal is right.). If there is a way I could do it without exposing her to my risks I'd love to know a way. Any ideas on how to set that up? I like the BUY, OWN, STABLE, SAFE, RICH. I may have to rethink the way I approach her.

Shane, great article! Thanks. My wife believes in this line from the article 100%:
"Most of us were taught to do well in school, go to college and get a good steady job to provide security for our families."
and she feels that I need to make sure whatever I do for us is secure. I'm still iun the process of getting my first deal, but haven't really persued it as fervently as I would like because she does understand putting something under contract to wholesale I still have to sign my name. She doesn't get the safeties in place in the contract to back out of it. I haven't persued it because if I did have to back out I would want my rep in the area tarnished starting out.

@Ed O Thanks for the advice. I like the meeting other investor idea. I'll have to look into a little more. Regarding reading, there's no way she will. I've tried that route. She doesn't understand it and here's all the stories about people getting forclosed and losing money that she has pretty much closed her mind. Which is really wierd because our house was bought as a short sale and she understood the concept of buying at the right price and having built in equity when we bought it. I've tried to explain ti her this is basically what I'm trying to do now and now she acts like she doesn't get it. Don't get me started on the stock comparison. I mention any stock investment I have and she has that blank and distent stare that only a husband understands.

Shane Woods Thank you also for the advice. My wife is more like 80% behind me and I think that's only because it's my dream and what I want to do. It doesn't excite her in the least when I mention it. She really has 0 interest in it and is not interested in using any of our money to do it unless we are completey out of debt (we're getting there but by that time it'll more than likely be too late to build the wealth I would like for us. Probably a good 5 years off.) My wife too is a HARD SELL. At this point I think my only option is to talk with my brother-in-law whom she has a great deal of trust in. He is in real estate, but on an entirely different level than what I'd be doing. He buys and refurbs hotels on the west coast and is based out of Arizona. Maybe I can explain to him what I'm doing, maybe get a business plan together and have him go over it, then maybe she'd be up for it. My brother-in-law has midas touch for sure in his business.

Thanks again guys! Keep the ideas coming.

Hi Everyone,

I've been interested in real estate investing for a while now. It's taken a long time to get my credit straight and debts paid down. I'm still working on build cash reserves for down payments etc. (very low and taking forever to build) I know I can find the money as long as the deal is right and there are creative was of using what I have (ex. HELOC, turning over traditional 401k to SDIRA), but my question is how do you handle doing anything when your spouse has nothing to do with real estate, does not want to learn anything about real estate, and is fearful you will be putting the both of you into unrecoverable debt? I know this is a great time to jump in and take that risk, but I don't want to knowing my wifes fears. I know there are no guarantees in life, but I want to make her coomfortable enough that I can get started building our wealth and get her to at least comprehend what I'm doing to calm here fears. Any feedback would greatly be appreciated.